Tony Dominski, Feb. 10, 1944-Sept. 8, 2016

by Susan Klein

A memorial gathering to celebrate the life of Tony Dominski will be held on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, 2-5 p.m. at the New Haven Peoples Center, 37 Howe St. Please come to share light refreshments and fond memories.

Tony arrived in New Haven in 1966 to study environmental science at Yale Forestry School. He joined the American Independent Movement, a local grassroots effort opposing the war on Vietnam and exposing the shortcomings of urban redevelopment. He led the effort to inject science into activism around urban ecology, and was a founder of the Science Action Group, which expanded the first Earth Day in 1970 into six weeks of actions called the Environmental Offensive, gaining national attention.

Tony taught at Pratt Institute and built a consulting firm that evaluated the environmental impact of urban and small-town development projects. He and pediatrician Morris Wessel published a groundbreaking study of lead poisoning in children, which helped force reduction of permitted lead levels in housing and the environment. In 1979 Tony moved to Santa Barbara, teaching at UCSB and becoming executive director of its first recycling enterprise. Later he moved to Tallahassee to evaluate environmental impacts for the state of Florida. He also wrote grants for Florida House in Sarasota, winning significant funding from Toyota for environmental projects.

Still consulting in Florida, Tony returned to New Haven and joined the Energy Task Force, which pressures the city and state to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. He helped save horseshoe crabs at three Connecticut preserves: Westbrook, Sandy Point, and Charles Island. In all his work, Tony constantly looked over the horizon, promoted the most far-reaching analyses and proposals for the environmental directions society must take, and brought people together with his thoughtful, cooperative and spiritual approach to life.

Tony was the first of twelve siblings. He married three wonderful women: Joelle Fishman, Donree Bruce, and Constance Amrita Joy. All who knew him cherished Tony for his offbeat, perceptive and irreverent sense of humor, infectious laugh and strong sense of caring for his family, friends and the planet.